Difference between revisions of "Talk:1767: US State Names"

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(discussed collocate vs co-locate vs colocate)
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"Colocated" is technically misspelled (it's either "co-located" or "collocated"), though that could be for the sake of matching it to "Colorado." However, the word is used in many situations other than "co-location center" (e.g. workers being collocated in the same office), so unless Colorado is particularly notable for its co-location centers, I don't think it makes sense to claim that that's what it's specifically referring to. –[[User:PhantomLimbic|PhantomLimbic]] ([[User talk:PhantomLimbic|talk]]) 09:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
 
"Colocated" is technically misspelled (it's either "co-located" or "collocated"), though that could be for the sake of matching it to "Colorado." However, the word is used in many situations other than "co-location center" (e.g. workers being collocated in the same office), so unless Colorado is particularly notable for its co-location centers, I don't think it makes sense to claim that that's what it's specifically referring to. –[[User:PhantomLimbic|PhantomLimbic]] ([[User talk:PhantomLimbic|talk]]) 09:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
 
:Hmm, it looks like "colocated" is a spelling used specifically within the industry, so perhaps the claim is warranted after all. –[[User:PhantomLimbic|PhantomLimbic]] ([[User talk:PhantomLimbic|talk]]) 09:50, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
 
:Hmm, it looks like "colocated" is a spelling used specifically within the industry, so perhaps the claim is warranted after all. –[[User:PhantomLimbic|PhantomLimbic]] ([[User talk:PhantomLimbic|talk]]) 09:50, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
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:Collocate is not a synonym for co-locate; [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collocate collocate]  (pronounced like "kallocate") has the sense of juxtaposing things with each other, especially placing them side by side. This is subtly different from co-locate (housing them in the same location). "Colocate" is an industry [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/weekinreview/07mcgrath.html shortening] of "co-locate", not a misspelling of "collocate". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.47|108.162.215.47]] 01:01, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
  
 
Isn't it a challenge to correctly name all the states with clues given as to the proper name?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.95|162.158.91.95]] 10:27, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
 
Isn't it a challenge to correctly name all the states with clues given as to the proper name?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.95|162.158.91.95]] 10:27, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Revision as of 01:01, 5 December 2016

I'm wondering whether this could be a joke about autocorrect/suggested completion as found in smartphone texting apps. Dromaeosaur (talk) 08:06, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

But would autocorrect replace Texas with Hexxus?--Blaisorblade (talk) 09:02, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

According to Wikipedia Will Wheaton is not from Washington 162.158.133.150 08:56, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

I think the starting point is the ambiguity of the standard "Name all 50 states" challenge. I'm no native speaker but "Name" means both "invent a new name" and "give the correct name for", and Randall is misunderstanding this on purpose. Maybe that's obvious to some, but it seems the sort of thing worth explaining here?--Blaisorblade (talk) 09:02, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Clever! That's certainly true, it could be a pun on the word "name". Although Randall has done similar things in the past (putting objects in states, reordering states, drawing physically cumbersome bicycles) that suggest he likes playing with the idea that people who sort of know how things work but ultimately end up mixing things up and creating something that's not all that accurate (but nonetheless very interesting and creative). 172.68.79.81 18:31, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

"Colocated" is technically misspelled (it's either "co-located" or "collocated"), though that could be for the sake of matching it to "Colorado." However, the word is used in many situations other than "co-location center" (e.g. workers being collocated in the same office), so unless Colorado is particularly notable for its co-location centers, I don't think it makes sense to claim that that's what it's specifically referring to. –PhantomLimbic (talk) 09:36, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Hmm, it looks like "colocated" is a spelling used specifically within the industry, so perhaps the claim is warranted after all. –PhantomLimbic (talk) 09:50, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
Collocate is not a synonym for co-locate; collocate (pronounced like "kallocate") has the sense of juxtaposing things with each other, especially placing them side by side. This is subtly different from co-locate (housing them in the same location). "Colocate" is an industry shortening of "co-locate", not a misspelling of "collocate". 108.162.215.47 01:01, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

Isn't it a challenge to correctly name all the states with clues given as to the proper name?162.158.91.95 10:27, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

I think the challenge is supposed to be a blank map that someone has filled out in red pen. The joke is that whoever filled it out does pretty much know all of the states but isn't really clear on their actual names.108.162.238.50 10:34, 2 December 2016 (UTC) Right, I get you. Something a bored Geography teacher may or may not find amusing when it comes to giving out detentions for the week :)162.158.91.95 10:40, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Is Georgia / George a reference to the kings of georgia (of which 9 were named george)? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Georgian_monarchs) 141.101.98.253 10:49, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

About "OH HI", I've understood it as a reference to the cult movie "The Room" (2003) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226), where the main character Johnny greets the other ones with a "Oh hi!". But that's maybe only my view. 108.162.226.112 12:12, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

I think it's within plausibility for OH HI to be a reference to the logic game 0h h1 [1]. Toss that possibility around? --108.162.212.96 23:30, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

As a Hoosier, I think that the name given to Indiana is on point. 108.162.238.45 14:06, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Shouldn't the table be alphabetical and the transcript be in geographical order (rather than the other way around as it is now)?108.162.219.83 15:12, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

I'm fairly confident that "Mossouri" is not a typo, but rather a reference to Katie Mossouris, the Microsoft security researcher who created the bug bounty program. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Moussouris. 108.162.245.54 18:06, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Dear, it's old to complain of xkcd's various quality drops, but I think this is my turn. A good number of recent comics have just been variously exaggerated text lists of stuff. Randall might just as well switch to a written format; pictorial context is becoming less and less necessary for his comics by the week. ~~~~ 162.158.203.149 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Never read Cerebus the Aardvark, did you? --172.68.78.133 14:04, 3 December 2016 (UTC)


I'm thinking that at least in part, it's a commentary on what the average American middle-schooler knows about their country's geography. 173.245.52.98 10:56, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure there is no 'ee' sound in Michigan, also of note the Carolina's are named for one the British King Charles's although I'm not sure which, and Wysiwyg has been used in xkcd before... Somewhere108.162.237.88 21:14, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Agreed re Michigan and removed. Miamiclay (talk) 23:11, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

Newark? He named New York after Newark, New Jersey? Yea, I got your Newark right here, buddy! --172.68.78.133 14:04, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

For me, Randall's comic is a gentle-but-hilarious depiction of the general imprecision of human cognition --- pretty much every story that we tell, and every fact we remember, arrives in our awareness in the foggy forms that this comic makes fun of. John Sidles (talk) 02:12, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

"Spanish Maine" is ironic given the sinking of the naval ship of the same name and the inspired rally, "Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain!" 172.68.79.81 18:31, 3 December 2016 (UTC)